Defense lawyer lands on S.F. murder jury

Share this:

An unusual memo came out of the San Francisco public defender’s office this week. It advised the staff lawyers not to talk to a longtime defense attorney, Tony Tamburello.

Turns out that Tamburello, noted for his recent legal defense in the body-in-the-van case in San Francisco and his previous work defending Larry Layton — a follower of Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones — is sitting as a murder case juror at the Hall of Justice. Of course, he can’t talk about it.

But the advocate will soon be in a position to serve as a judge of the facts in a May 8, 2009, Tenderloin apartment slaying in which the defendant, Mikel Harris, says he “cut” Andre Fluker as a “reflex” after Fluker slapped him. Harris lived in the Turk Street apartment, and Fluker had stored property there and was retrieving it at the time of the fatal clash.

Tamburello, despite his history as an advocate, told everyone he could be fair.

“It’s unusual to see in a murder trial,” said deputy public defender Chris Gauger, who handles complex litigation and appeals for the office.

Prosecutor Asit Panwala did not object to Tamburello’s service, nor did defense attorney Kleigh Hathaway or Judge Garrett Wong. District attorney’s spokeswoman Erica Derryck said she would not comment about the decision to leave Tamburello on the panel, other than to note that all the seated jurors had said they could be fair and impartial.

Tom Rogers, chief deputy district attorney in Alameda County, said it’s unusual but not unheard of to have working defense attorneys serve as jurors. He added that had not objected in one instance in which a defense attorney turned up in a jury pool.

“I kept him, and it was a successful verdict,” Rogers said, noting that the defendant was convicted of setting off a series of bombs targeting city officials in Fremont. “It was a risk, but both sides have to take risks.”